I woke up yesterday morning at 4 a.m. to get ready for work and I had the worst stomach ache. Which is weird, because that hardly ever happens. But I know I have to eat something because once I get to the shop I have to hit the ground running packing everything up. I had a toasted English muffin with a schmear of peanut butter. After a while my stomach settled down. Weird! It was a pretty sunrise when I got to the shop.
I was doing a new market for me, so I was unsure of how it would go. The previous record for this market was $1006, so that was my goal to beat that. This one ran from 7 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.
And for the first hour and a half. Ghost town! We were situated right by the Metra station, but hardly anyone walked by. A Frenchman who sold hummus and olives next to me told me that he keeps telling the market director that this market shouldn’t open before 9, but they won’t listen. So I walked up and down the street with my breakfast burrito demo and took “vendor” orders for $5 each instead of $8 to get the ball rolling. I walked back with 7 orders.
I hardly ever sell our mini cheesecakes, so I was determined to sell at least half that I had, and I did. I did a demo of our mini mixed berry gluten free cheesecake it it was a hit.
I did the bulk of our sales between 10:00 and 12:00 and ended up with a new sales record – $1126! I am a tad bit competitive, no?! 
After work, I headed to Hannah’s work to get lunch. My stomach was feeling fine and I was really hungry. She made me their “El Dorado” sandwich. Grilled turkey panini with chipotle sauce, bacon and cheese. I ate half and am calling it 10 points because it was on sourdough bread. So good.
We were talking about what to make for dinner, when I remembered that I had ricotta cheese and baby spinach at home. I am still participating in the Food Waste Challenge, which is going really well. It does make you think to use up what you have vs. going to the store a few times a week. Well, I did have to stop at the store for large pasta shells. That’s one type of pasta I rarely keep stocked in the pantry, even though it’s one of Hannah’s favorites. As I was walking through the store, I stopped in my tracks.
Halloween candy! Not only is it out, but it’s also on sale, which is weird to me. I love fall, and Halloween, but when the temps are 50 degrees and there are leaves on the ground. Not when it’s close to 90 degrees outside.
My friend Alison grew a garden this year and has a bounty of tomatoes. Like three large Trader Joe’s paper bags filled with tomatoes! She and her family are on vacation this week, so she asked if I could use them. Why yes I can. Actually I am going to be making giant batches of my base pasta sauce and then can it for them to use later on. They should at least get a benefit from their hard work of tending to a garden!
Aren’t these gorgeous?! Normally I would have cheated and bought sauce to make it easy on myself after a long day at the market, but after I took an hour nap I caught my second wind. This cherry tomato sauce is so easy, it really could be made on a weeknight.
I made this with five shells as a serving, but after plating, I realized 4 would be plenty and it was. Each plate with the 5 shells comes in at 11 smart points. I had 15 points going into dinner, so it’s all good.
***********
When I was at the market trying to drum up breakfast business with the other vendors, I came across Standard Market, and they had the most amazing bread display. I didn’t have my phone with me, but if I work this market again, I am definitely going to take one. When Hannah was little I used to make her rainbow bread for her sandwiches. I would make four different loaves of bread, all a different color, then use 1/4 of each colored dough to make my loaf and bake it. I haven’t thought about rainbow bread in years. So imagine my surprise when I saw rainbow bagels! They sold me a 4-pack for $4 (vendor price!) and I surprised Hannah with them.
This morning she is working at the coffee shop. I woke up at 7:30 this morning to a text of her breakfast – she made a bagel sammie with the rainbow bagel.
The dogs ended up sleeping with me last night. They do hog the bed, but I don’t mind. In the morning, Roman is extra snuggly as he wakes up. So cute!
I have WW this morning. I didn’t go last week, and not sure what the scale will say. I always do a sneak peak weigh in at home on WI day, but I stepped on it right out of bed, and the battery is dead and I don’t have any replacements. Oh well, it is what it is.
Since I worked yesterday I have today and tomorrow off this week. I have lots of pasta sauce to make and canning to do – among the usually laundry list of things to do. Make it a great day!
I don’t even like bagels, but I want a rainbow bagel now!! And the shells look so good. I don’t think I’ve ever had stuffed shells, but now I want to try making these.
Yum those shells look good! I have a recipe for those shells somewhere and now I know I need to make it sometime soon.
Soon you’re going to see Pumpkin spice. Its extra strange here because it usually stays warm until November at least.
I love that you are so competitive! I am the same way 🙂 I have never seen rainbow bread, it’s a little strange to me haha. Your shells look yummy!
And it’s not overly “spinach” in flavor – just a hint. Well, the cheese helps as does more sauce on top! 😀
Great Idea to process the spinach, I love stuff shells but my husband doesn’t like the texture of the spinach. I am sure this method would help.
Beautiful sunrise! Awww, rainbow bagels. Question: Do you seed or peel the tomatoes for that sauce? I have a ton of grape tomatoes from one plant and a ton of cherry tomatoes from another – way more than we need! We’ve been giving a bunch away, but I want to use some for myself. 🙂
I used to blanch and take the skins off the tomatoes, but since I puree the sauce at the end anyway, it doesn’t matter. I just rinsed off any dirt.
Since I am making this for my friend, I added 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the bottom of the pan. Turned the burner on medium, chopped one small onion (not too fine because you’ll puree it later) 2 ounces of chopped pepperoni (my secret to my sauce!) one 6 ounce can of tomato paste and let that cook for about 5 minutes until the tomato paste starts to melt and the onions start to get some color. I didn’t pay attention to how many cherry tomatoes and tomatoes I used – probably 5 pounds?
I reduced the heat to as low as it can go, and it’s been cooking for about two hours. I’ve added Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper to taste. I’ll let it cool a bit before using my stick blender, and adjust the seasoning then.
Thanks Biz!!
Omg those shells (and that sauce) look amazing! I must try that
I love how this sauce turned out – delish! Let me know if you give it a try! 😀
I used to make rainbow cakes in high school! Love how pretty that rainbow bagel is.
Sounds like you have a good day ahead, full of what you like to do most – cooking! Go Biz!
Yep, it’s the perfect day! 😀 Full pot of pasta sauce, and soon to be salsa!
You go, girl!
I’ve got a snuggle bug, too! Sophie Jean has a “cuddle alarm.” Every morning, when the alarm goes off, she knows it’s time to cuddle. So she moves from wherever she is on the bed, cuddles into my arm and turns upside down waiting for belly rubs. If I am really sleepy and stop petting her, she nudges me with her paw. 🙂 I am not a morning person, so it’s the one thing that really makes me happier in the morning!
Usually Roman shies away from me during the day, it was nice to get the morning snuggles! 😀